The Aberdeen Evening Express detailed on July 27 that plans had been presented for construction of 500 homes near the failing Trump International Golf Links in Scotland. They reminded their readership that the Aberdeen City Council had voted “to reject plans for the site in 2007, before the Scottish Government gave the masterplan to create 2,750 homes the go-ahead.”
The paper announced on September 4 that a petition had been launched to prevent the plans from being enacted. At that time, it quoted an official from the Trump organization.
Sarah Malone, executive vice-president of Trump International Golf Links Scotland, said: “The premise of this petition is entirely wrong.
“Not only does the project already have outline planning permission, it comprises a wide range of property types accessible to the local community with prices starting from £295,000.
By September 25, the petition had garnered over 16,000 signatures from local residents.
The public consultation period for the project ended last week, with a final tally of over 19,000 signatures on the petition and more than 3000 formal objections personally submitted to the city council, all by residents.
The council previously rejected the Trump plans, but did so by a bare vote before being overruled by the Scottish government. That was in 2007, with considerable public appreciation for Trump’s celebrity status. Now, there have been complaints about Trump’s broken promises about his treatment of the local landmarks, complaints about his perceived racism, complaints about his failure to understand that Scotland did not vote for Brexit, and even complaints about the golf course refusing to serve the national soft drink of Scotland.
The Trump Organization’s promise of increased business revenue and new jobs is not helped by the fact that it’s failed to make a golf course in Scotland profitable and is employing fewer people now than it did two years ago.
Trump is overwhelmingly – although not monolithically – disliked in Scotland. There have even been multiple reports covering the wide variety of derisive epithets hurled at the U.S. President from the Scots. It is plausible that, should the plans fail to clear the city council again, the Scottish government will be less inclined to override them this time.
